Saturday 20 August 2016 - 15:39
Story Code : 227715
Hamadan deployment: A lesson Washington should learn from Moscow
The deployment ofRussia's strategic bombers and fighter jets atHamadan inIran has become yet another lesson the US should learn fromMoscow, CIA veteran Paul Pillar stresses, adding that it has nothing todo withthe ongoing military campaign or Russia's increasing presence inSyria.
The US is stuck ina Cold War mindset, "perceiving the world asdivided intoallies and adversaries," Pillar, a non-resident senior fellow ofthe Brookings Institution notes inhis recent opinion piece forThe National Interest.
As a result, Washington "limits efforts atcooperation withthe former, and sees the latter asfit only forconfrontation, punishment, and isolation," he underscores.
In contrast, the Russian government is "able topursue its objectives and interests more fully and freely because it is willing todo business withanyone, not limiting itself tobusiness only withstates it considers allies and not letting old animosities or current differences get inthe way ofdiplomatic initiatives and practical cooperation," according tothe CIA veteran.
Commenting on the Russo-Iranian agreement tobolster military cooperation onSyria Pillar remarks that Russians and Iranians can't be regarded as "buddies." Likewise, Russians and Turks aren't "buddies" either. But that fact does not prevent the Russian leadership frombuilding close ties withboth Tehran and Ankara inthe Middle East.
What is more interesting, Moscow is strengthening collaboration withTurkey and Israel, regardless ofthe fact that both countries remain political and economic allies ofthe West.
"In practicing such flexible diplomacy, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is operating inthe realist tradition," Pillar emphasizes.
"In that respect Russia is indeed one-upping the United States," he adds.
As forWashington, it continues topursue what Pillar calls "a non-realist approach." However, according tothe CIA veteran, it is "a poor way toprotect and advance one's interests."
"It means associating too closely withmisadventures ofpurported allies (as, forexample, the United States is today insupporting the bloody Saudi-led military intervention inYemen) and missing opportunities tobuild onthe parallel interests that invariably exist even withthose states firmly labeled asadversaries," he elaborates.
To make matters worse, while looking atRussia throughthe Cold War prism Washington perceives any activity ofMoscow, let alone its gains, inthe Middle East as "a setback forthe United States," the CIA veteran adds.
Thus, unsurprisingly, the Russian Air Force's deployment atHamadan airfield has immediately prompted criticism fromthe West.According tothe US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, the move "continues tocomplicate what is already a very dangerous situation."
"And so our concerns remain very vivid. We're trying toremain focused on trying toget a cessation ofhostilities back inplace inSyria. And this doesn't help it," Toner said, asquoted byReuters.
Speaking toSputnik, Iranian lawyer Amir Hossein Norbakhsh called attention tothe fact that Washington does not give Russia and Iran credit fortheir efforts aimed atfighting Daesh (ISIS/ISIL).
"The United States has turned a blind eye onhow dangerous Daesh and other terrorist groups (some ofwhich received assistance fromthe US) are tothe region and the world. At the same time, Washington does not give credit toRussia and Iran fortheir massive contribution totackling the threat that terrorists pose," Norbakhsh told Sputnik, stressing that Russia byno means violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
Both Washington and Moscow are pursuing the very same goal inthe region they are trying todefeat Daesh and al-Qaeda.
"A wiser United States would also think ofRussia itself, which has the label ofadversary firmly affixed toit, inrealist terms inwhich that label would not prevent the United States fromexploring and exploiting areas ofparallel interests," Pillar notes.
By Sputnik
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